As I write this week’s Wednesday STOPP Report, it is Tuesday afternoon and the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, has just taken his oath of office. The swearing-in of the first African-American president of the United States was truly an historic moment. We only wish that this particular president wasn’t so intent on killing babies in the womb.

 

The events of today took STOPP's founder, Jim Sedlak, back to a January day in 1985, just a week after Ronald Reagan was sworn-in for his second term as president. On that day, 24 years ago, God first motivated him to begin a pro-life effort dedicated to fighting Planned Parenthood. We present here Jim's reflections on the battle against Planned Parenthood.

 

 

It was a different time then. It is hard to imagine but, in 1985, there was not a single book on the market that was critical of Planned Parenthood as an organization. Despite the fact that Planned Parenthood has been the leader in the efforts to sexualize our children and end the lives of our preborn, you had to do extensive, painstaking research to learn of the horrors of the organization.

 

There was a book, Margaret Sanger, Father of Modern Society, that was critical of Planned Parenthood’s founder and exposed her philosophies through an examination of her 1922 book, The Pivot of Civilization. However, there was not a well researched book on the organization itself.

 

Still, there was a lot of opposition to Planned Parenthood among the pro-life community and there were many articles that had been published. We found enough material, including a slide presentation, to put together effective presentations and literature to attack Planned Parenthood’s credibility. This included brochures from American Life League.

 

At that time, in 1985, Planned Parenthood was a $250 million a year organization with 40 percent of its income coming from the American taxpayer and 30 percent of its clinic income coming from abortions. It was comprised of 186 affiliates operating 763 non-express clinics across the country.

 

Those who publicly spoke out against this growing behemoth were frequently met with derision and disbelief.  Surely, we were told, nothing could be as bad as we were saying, especially since no one had heard about it from other sources.

 

Then, in 1988, George Grant released the first edition of Grand Illusions.  It was the book that blew the lid off the secret organization that was Planned Parenthood. Here, in one book, we could give to people well sourced and well documented material that confirmed all that we had been saying for years. It was a great help to the effort.

 

 

The effort to fight Planned Parenthood gathered momentum. Then, in January 1993, we witnessed the inauguration of William Clinton as president of the United States. Clinton, and his wife, Hillary, were supporters of the Planned Parenthood philosophies.

 

Planned Parenthood was so elated at having the Clintons in the White House that it publicly proclaimed that it had eight years to move ahead as fast as it could. At the time of the Clinton inauguration, Planned Parenthood had grown to a $446 million organization operating 922 non-express clinics across the country and committing 8.6 percent of all the abortions in the country. It said that it wanted to expand to 2,000 clinics by the year 2000.

 

What Planned Parenthood did not realize was how a Clinton administration would invigorate the pro-life movement in the United States. Everywhere Planned Parenthood turned, it began to meet opposition that it had never met before. In community after community, ordinary citizens were saying NO to Planned Parenthood.

 

As a result, by the time the Clintons left office in 1998, Planned Parenthood had not seen an increase in its clinic presence, but had actually witnessed a decline. The number of Planned Parenthood non-express clinics had actually fallen from that 922 in 1992 to 850 – a long way from its goal of 2,000.

 

The Clintons were able to funnel much taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood, and its overall business rose to a total income of $660 million, with 26.7 percent ($177 million) coming from taxpayers. In addition, as pro-lifers shut down independent abortion mills all across the land, Planned Parenthood moved in to take over their business. By the end of 1998, Planned Parenthood was committing 13.9 percent of all abortions in the country.

 

 

As the Clinton administration gave way to the Bush administration, many in the pro-life movement were so elated that they sat back and thought they didn’t need to do anything anymore. In the early years, it appeared that Planned Parenthood was given an opportunity to reorganize and pull its act together.

 

The Bush years saw a steady increase in Planned Parenthood taxpayer funding. The $177 million of 1998 grew to $254 million by the end of Bush’s first term and to $336 million in 2007. The taxpayer money accounted for 33.1 percent of its total $1.02 billion income.

 

But, while the politicians continued to fund the organization at ever increasing rates, average citizens across the country became more and more disillusioned with Planned Parenthood. Communities continued to rise up against it and more and more major pro-life organizations began organizing major offensives against its programs. As a result, although PP has continued to get more and more money, it has also had to close down many of its clinics. As the Obama administration begins its work, Planned Parenthood operates 813 non-express clinics. This is 109 less than it had at the start of the Clinton administration.

 

 

As we sit here at the start of the Obama administration, we are optimistic about the future of the battle against Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is, by almost every measure, in an enviable position as its friends take over the White House and Congress. The new president even features the Prevention First Act – a bill that will provide millions of dollars to PP – on the White House web site. However, there are troubling signs for the organization.

 

First, we are witnessing more major pro-life organizations focusing their fight on Planned Parenthood than ever before. We, at American Life League, are happy to see this activity and believe it bodes well for the pro-life community’s ability to have a major negative impact on PP.

 

We know, from living through the Clinton administration, that Planned Parenthood is going to have trouble motivating its base. As the pro-abortion community looks at Obama and Congress, they are going to figure the battle is won and they will go off fighting other issues. Already we have seen, since the election, two fundraising letters from Planned Parenthood imploring its supporters to continue to support the organization. The fact that PP had to lay off 20 percent of its headquarters staff recently due to the economic situation will be seen by many of its supporters as just “trimming the fat.”

 

On the other hand, the pro-life community is gearing-up for battle. I attended three events over the last weekend in Delaware and Wisconsin and saw an energy level among pro-lifers that I have not seen in a number of years. The pro-life community is eager to stop Planned Parenthood. Tens of thousands of them are signing petitions and taking other activist steps.

 

During the three talks in three different cities, attendees purchased our anti-Planned Parenthood CDs and books at a far greater clip than I’ve seen in recent years. Our movement is ready to move ahead and that is bad news for Planned Parenthood.

 

So, as you receive this the day after the inauguration, do not despair. Now is the time for renewal. Now is the time for moving ahead. Now is the time for all good men to speak out and act and fight Planned Parenthood at every turn. From our vantage point, we expect Planned Parenthood will see many major losses in the coming years and will eventually view the inauguration of Barack Obama as a sad day in its history.

 

 

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